weekend dinner part 2…

Update 11.3.2009(12.3.2009)billn

wine-pages.com superBOWL - our tablePart deux of my small report on Saturday’s dinner. High-quality wines throughout, and only one corked wine that I can remember – but fortunately for us it wasn’t from our table. Despite it being a level playing field for all, this is where we begged the use of better glassware – these wines would clearly have benefited from it.
1995 Lafarge, Volnaytry to find this wine...
Medium ruby-red colour. The nose is deep, meaty and leafy – one to keep sniffing. In the mouth there’s plenty of acidity and it’s followed by plenty of action too. Good persistence of flavour and whilst rather unruly, it’s definitely a wine with personality.
Rebuy – Maybe
1996 Engel, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Brûléestry to find this wine...
Medium-plus colour. The nose is deep, showing plenty of leaf, undergrowth and a nice spicy element. Very nice acidity and flavours that burst across the mid-palate, then a wave of tannin before fading in the finish. This is a lovely wine and not ‘too’ 1996.
Rebuy – Yes
1996 Arnoux, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Suchotstry to find this wine...
Warm and sweet are main thoughts as you bring your nose to this, very pretty if not stunningly effusive. In the mouth it’s sweet and intense – tannic still – and has nice complexity. I don’t find the ‘cut’ and excitement that was evident in the Engel Brûlées, so would much rather drink that today but this is clearly no slouch.
Rebuy – Yes
2000 Dujac, Bonnes-Marestry to find this wine...
The nose is wide and surprisingly mineral with understated red fruits – no obvious stems showing here. In the mouth the personality is of a medium-bodied red-fruited wine with tannin that’s hardly worth a mention. Despite its very understated acidity it is both long finishing and not a little mouth-watering. I found this a very good and very approachable wine, though several steps below the quality I might expect given the pricing of more recent vintages.
Rebuy – Yes
1998 JF Mugnier, Musignytry to find this wine...
Opened 2 yours before the first pour. Medium colour – ruby but still with cherry-red accents. The nose is deeper and darker than that of the Bonnes-Mares, but less wide. Slowly in the glass the aromas gain width and dimension – I would say very fine. In the mouth my first impression is that it’s a little hard and tight; in tandem with the nose it slowly unwinds, softens and adds width. Another wine where the tannin hardly warrants a mention, though the quality of the wide and creamy finish was streets ahead of the Bonnes-Mares. In this context it was a fine wine, but one that didn’t ‘wow’.
Rebuy – Yes

Favourite of the night? Not easy, but on reflection I’d give it to the Engel for its sheer personality.

Agree? Disagree? Anything you'd like to add?

There are 4 responses to “weekend dinner part 2…”

  1. David DJ12th March 2009 at 3:14 pmPermalinkReply

    Sounds like you’ve caught the 98 Musigny in a tricky phase – one of the GREAT young Burgundies tasted back in 2005 I think.

  2. Ray Walker12th March 2009 at 5:12 pmPermalinkReply

    Hey Bill, great notes. Could you recommend any vintage of JF Mugnier’s Musigny or lessor bottlings that are a value for the quality?

  3. Tom Blach12th March 2009 at 11:39 pmPermalinkReply

    I’ve had the Dujac once, and it was on the right day-a truly great bottle in 2005. I couldn’t see how it could ever get better.
    Ray, I think the Mugnier ‘value’ is now the Fuees-all things are relative of course, and I wish I’d known ten years ago how expensive all Musigny was going to become. It has to be left for the very wealthy now-no wine is worth that much for people of normal means.

    • billn13th March 2009 at 7:50 amPermalinkReply

      Ray/Tom – Given recent pricing , the only wine from this domaine that I think offers value is the Clos de la Marechale – I’ve bought both 06 & 07 – though it’s still hardly a bargain.
      I used to love the Fuées – and for many vintages thought it better than the Bonnes-Mares – but recent pricing is plain dumb.
      Specifically for JFM Musigny; my experience lies only with 94,97,98, 99 and 05 form barrel. The 94 is (was) a great wine for the vintage and cheap – but only good-plus in the context of 98/99. The 97 offers some value and avoids the harshness that many from the vintage can show; it’s not a great Musigny but it’s a fine 97.
      Limited for sure, but hopefully something useful here…
      Cheers

  4. Ray Walker13th March 2009 at 7:54 pmPermalinkReply

    @billn – Bill, excellent thought. We had the 2008 Clos de la Marechale out of barrel and it was really a …pretty NSG. I know that’s not a typical NSG but it was so balanced, clean and the oak/fruit was just so right that it worked.

    Tom, the Fuees is a great thought as well.

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